In a new barbarous act on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, Iran’s regime hanged five political prisoners—Farhad Shakeri, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, and Malek Fadaei—in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. The executions were carried out without prior notice or a final visit with their families.
These five prisoners were arrested in 2015 and, in 2019, sentenced to death by the notorious Judge Davoodabadi at Branch One of the so-called “Revolutionary Court” in Mashhad on charges of “rebellion.” Three of their co-defendants—Hamid Rastbala, Kabir Saadat Jahani, and Mohammad Ali Arayesh—who were also arrested in 2015, were executed earlier on December 31, 2020.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), stated that through this endless cycle of cruelty, Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei aims to “crush the looming uprising and delay the regime’s inevitable downfall. Yet, each crime only steels the will of Iran’s defiant youth to rise up and resist with even greater determination.”
Mrs. Rajavi also warned that “silence and inaction in the face of a regime that is a disgrace to modern humanity amount to complicity in its crimes and terror.”
Brutal execution of five political prisoners in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad
Farhad Shakeri, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, and Malek Fadaei were ruthlessly hanged this morning after enduring ten years of imprisonment. Through this endless cycle…— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 8, 2025
It is worth noting that in the Persian year 1403 (March 2024–March 2025), Iran’s regime carried out more than 1,150 inmates, including 38 women. Eight of those executions were carried out in public.
It is noteworthy that approximately 85% of the executions in 2024 took place during the presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024 and brands himself as a moderate and reformist.
Moreover, the regime is waging a brutal war against political prisoners and many more are on death row and can be sent to the gallows any minute. One stark example is political prisoners Behrouz Ehsani, 69, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, who were sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial.
The Supreme Court of Iran’s regime recently rejected their request for a judicial review, paving the way for their execution at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Alborz province. Their case has drawn widespread condemnation due to allegations of torture, forced confessions, and violations of due process, including by Amnesty International and members of the European Parliament.